Port Project moving ahead (+video)

Management of the new Kingstown Port Project is wasting no time on the removal of structures vacated by former occupants of the Rose Place beach as they prepare the site for construction of the Port.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the area at the western end of Kingstown on Wednesday, an excavator was breaking down structures and tearing up trees, as residents of Rose Place, employed on a short term basis, were loading debris onto a truck for transportation to the landfill at Diamond.

These workmen will, in a couple weeks, be replaced by a new crew, so that the benefits are spread equitably in the community, a person familiar with the project told SEARCHLIGHT.

When asked about persons whose sheds are still filled with fishing equipment and are reluctant to move, an official of the project pointed out that contracts have been signed, money paid, and “all of the people here know the process and what they must do.”

The official however does not envisage any issues and was quick to point that the complaints they used to receive have reduced in volume as persons are now more concerned with settling down in their new environments.

The fencing of the entire construction site, including the Rose Place beach, is expected to be completed in about two weeks time.

A barge which is berthed off the Rose Place beach has commenced geotechnical surveillance for the mapping of the area for reclamation of land on which the modern port will be constructed.

The estimated cost of the project is XCD600 million.